Hi Carlos & folk,
Carlos asked
>
> Is there any risk on using "fungy" lenses? I mean, are they able to
> "contaminate" bodies/bellows/other lenses? Should I storage them apart from my
> clean glass?
I beg to differ from a correspondent in the last Digest.
The spores of fungi are extremely small and light. Even smaller and lighter
than that if you can imagine.
They are everywhere. So that when air currents move around, they carry
fungal spores. That includes in and out of the cavities of our lenses that
change volume as we focus.
The spores germinate to become a fungal plant (hyphus (plural = hyphae)) on
the surface of our valuable glass which grows ever so slowly, and is probably
not well fed. I'd be surprised if they actually produce many new spores, if
any.
The concentration of new spores even within the lens that is their home,
provided the lens is kept dry, I'd guess is less than the concentration of
newly arriving spores (in the example of a lens that is used on a regular
basis).
The concentration of new-grown spores GETTING OUT of an infected lens
and close enough to another lens just has to be so low as to constitute
negligible infection pressure. Even less if the clean lenses are kept dry.
I think the risk is so low that it can be ignored. You can reduce it by having
the lens cleaned, by keeping your lenses dry, by vacuuming your camera
bag and keeping it also dry, and if you are still worried, keep the lens with
fungus in a lens case. And continue on using it and enjoying it. Get it
cleaned before it is permanently damaged; that shouldn't cost too much.
Cheers, Brian
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